It's hard to believe Victoria and I have been married almost a year now! We've been living together since before Declan was born, so our day to day lives haven't changed but somehow, it still feels a little different to us.We're like a real little nuclear family now. We just need a dog and a white picket fence.

Declan has been asking us for another little brother or sister since he started pre-school last year. Seeing that's not on the cards just yet, we bought a cat in an effort to appease him. It's really Caitlin who's taken a shine to Ida though.

Even if she does look like she's going to strangle the poor thing half the time. For some reason, Ida still seems to like Caitlin.

Declan likes Ida too but what he really loves is his ant farm. He kind of reminds me of myself when I was little. I've always been into anything to do with science as well.

My parents were pretty poor when I was Declan's age so I had to wait a long while before we had enough money to spend on anything besides the bare necessities. I would have loved an ant farm!

Declan loves school about as much as I did too. He gets off the school bus with the biggest grin on his face and can't wait to tell us about his day.

He's made so many friends at school too. I've ducked my head into his classroom a few times and noticed that he generally sits on his own in class but I think he just likes to concentrate.

He's definitely got no problems with the other kids.

Sometimes I wonder if he prefers the company of adults though. No one seems to like our landlord but Declan adores him. They play chess together on the little set outside the elevators.

And ever since the wedding, Declan has been pestering me and Victoria to have Amar over to visit.

Amar was pretty well-behaved at the wedding and did a great job with the photos but he's still not exactly someone I want to have over for dinner, so we go to him.

It gives me a chance to catch up with Jacob anyway.

I leave Amar to Declan. Amar is actually pretty good with Declan, I'll give him that.

Exeter Aquarium just opened a few blocks away from us and it's been so great for Victoria.

She's not always working at the aquarium, as there's plenty of field work she has to do as well, but the days when she is, she can actually walk to work.

Victoria does still work weekends though. I hate that she can't sleep in on a Saturday.

She says she doesn't mind, because Declan usually gets up early anyway. That kid never sleeps in.

So on weekends, it's just me and the kids at home together.

Caitlin is due to start pre-school next year so Tatiana and I sometimes have little play dates for her and Brendan on Saturday mornings.

Caitlin is such a little extrovert that we're not really worried about her making friends at school. Brendan, however, is so shy so Tatiana thought it might help if there was a familiar face (besides her) when he starts school.

It's not going so well. Caitlin really wants to make friends but Brendan's so shy and I think Caitlin's getting a little put out about it. Hopefully, he'll get used to her eventually.

After the play date and a bit of lunch, I usually take both kids down to the aquarium.

Victoria doesn't get off until 4pm, so we usually have a few hours to wander around and look at everything.

I don't know when Declan and Caitlin are going to get sick of it but they haven't yet. I'm not sure Declan ever will - it's science, so he's in his element.

By the time we're done, Victoria is finished with work and we all meet up in the aquarium restaurant for an early dinner.

Caitlin usually gets a bit restless when we go out to eat but she likes the aquarium. You can watch all the marine life while you eat, so it keeps her entertained.

The kids are usually pretty worn out once we get home, which doesn't stop Caitlin from insisting she's not and trying to stay up longer so she can play.

Declan's usually pretty good about going to bed, as long as he gets a story first. We do story time in our bedroom, so as not to wake Caitlin. Which is one of the multiple reasons we really need to find a new place.

There's a little playground just outside, which Caitlin loves but a backyard would be even better. Anyone can just wander in, so we don't like the kids playing there unless we're right there to watch them.

I was going to wait another few years before starting my Master's but after talking with Victoria, I've decided to start it now.

There are other things we want to do with our money - buying a house is number one but we also want to have another baby and maybe even go on a honeymoon. But without a Master's, I can only go so far. My pay prospects are much better if I have my Master's.

So once I finish, I should be able to make some more money and then we can get started on all of our other plans. I'm hopeful that I can finish the program within two years. There's a practical component of the course, which I'm already fulfilling at work, so that's that taken care of.

The harder part is all the reading and writing that's required. It seems like there's more work to do every day. I restrict myself to only working on university stuff on weeknights and I save weekends for family.

I'm actually enjoying the work but I am just so tired! I really appreciate my down time even more than usual now.

Extras:Jacob just happened to wander by the apartments while Finn and Victoria were at work and he invited himself in to play with Caitlin. They made pretty fast friends too! He's probably going to end up her uncle one day, so they might as well get to know each other!

And did you guys know adults and kids would chat if they were both relaxing on the bed? It's so cute!And just a random one of Caitlin, because it's probably the last one you'll see of her as a toddler. She won't have any reason to visit the Novaks, the last family of Round 27.

Finn and Victoria paid $8000 up front for Finn's Master's. Finn has been promoted to High School Teacher (he's still going to work at the primary school for story purposes though), so he's gone as far as he can in the career track. They've now got about $12,000 to do whatever they want with. Their next goal is a house. It'd be nice if I could find another super-bargain like Lia and Gordon's house.

Finn and Victoria are much better off than Henry and Araminta were when they first got married. Poor Finn - I don't think he got that ant farm until he was 10 or 11. The family was in so much debt! They used to end every session with under $1000 in their funds and I wondered if they'd ever get themselves out of it!

Declan's rolled the want for a new family member, so I guess he wants another brother or sister. He must be a glutton for punishment, because he's already got quite a little firecracker of a sister at home!

More on Declan: he rolled up a ton of wants for Amar at the beginning of the session, which was kind of cute. Claudia probably wouldn't be too impressed with her nephew's taste in friends though!

Those of you who don't post at N99 (or don't check the Architect's Annex there) probably haven't seen my aquarium before, so here it is! You can see a bit more of it here - you'll need to be a member to view the thread though. Anyway, I want to eventually have a lot for every career and I was inspired by the aquarium the writer of The McTavishams built, so I decided to try my hand at a lot for Oceanography Sims. It was a bit of a pain to decorate (every single piece of decor in the aquarium tank had to go on its own OMSP) but I'm very happy with how it turned out.

15 comments:

I love the aquarium shots of the family in the diner, I'm guessing you took buy mode control and moved Caitlin to the table. I'm jealous that you got a toddler on the lot and able to control them, usually my toddlers and babies are not able to interact on community lots.

I agree with Maisie, Caitlyn is adorable, especially with Brendan. When I saw you made an aquarium, I immediately thought of the one that the author of The McTavishams used. Yours looks great, I like the restaurant in the aquarium as well, it reminds me a lot of the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. I love Declan, and how serious he is with his schoolwork and his ant farm.

Hee hee, Caitlin spam! Yay! Lol, who would have thought that Amar would be good with kids? I wonder if maybe he and Finn will become friends now? Gosh! Once again I am struck by how much Declan looks like Finn did when he was a child, lol, I think I say that every time I see him though :) It's good thing to see Finn getting to work on his masters too, they still have a pretty good nest-egg left over too, so I'm sure they'll be fine. And yay! More babies in the future!

Apple Valley, yup, that's what I did. You've said that you have problems with toddlers and babies on community lots before but I can't think what would be causing that. I've never had an issue getting them to interact. :\

Maisie, hmmm, I could send you the lot stripped of custom content. As long as you had all the aquarium stuff in your game, it should show up just as it should. I'm assuming it's the actual aquarium tank part you really want? Everything else is pretty straight-forward.

Yes, I'm pretty sure Caitlin has Finn's chin. Declan's got Victoria's pointy chin. Both kids, at first glance, look like they favour one parent very strongly but they're actually both really good mixes. Declan's also got Victoria's nose and Caitlin has Victoria's colouring and eyes, as well as Finn's nose and chin.

Christina, oh, you saw that too? She did such a great job that I couldn't wait to try it myself. The tutorial I looked at was a bit confusing but once I figured out what they were actually asking, it wasn't so bad.

I think Declan and Caitlin might be my favourite siblings. They're so adorable. And Declan loves his little sister. He rolls up wants to play with her all the time.

Tessa, Caitlin spam is always welcome, right? LOL.

Romance Sims are usually pretty good with kids, I find! I'm 99% positive that Amar will remain a real playable, so perhaps one day we'll see him with his own kids. ;)

Game wise, Amar and Finn are actually BFFs but there really isn't a reason they would be, so I don't write it that way. I like to imagine that Finn is just tolerant of Amar. I think Finn would find him pretty trying. They're mostly opposites but they're both quite nice and outgoing.

Ha, don't get too excited for more babies! It'll only be the one and it'll be quite a way off, I think! But there's definitely another baby on the horizon for them. After the Master's and after they get a new place to live!

I love this update! I'm a huge fan of this family. Even though they had a rough start, getting pregnang (twice) when you're still in college can never be easy, but they have made it, and it seem like they have everything in order now.Caitlin is such a sweety, but she's going to be a handfull, and Declan ... such a goodlooking boy, he's the spitting image of his father at that age!

The aquarium looks AMAZING!!! I've been in a creative mood the last couple of days, but I can only dream of something like that in my hood!

Sari, LOL, I know, I've never seen a kid grin so wide after school! I have a similar one of Tessa that I might use for the Novak update but she doesn't look nearly as happy as Declan!

And thanks! The aquarium is not too bad once you figure out the instructions. I found some of the tutorials a little confusing. But once I got that annoying part down, it was just like a regular lot.

Finn will be finished the Master's by the time we next see him. I'll duck in once more and have him write another novel and then he'll be done. :)

Shana, thanks, I'm really proud of it.

And no, you're right! I'm sure she'd be thrilled to hear how much her niece likes Jacob though. ;)

Tanja, yes, Finn and Victoria aren't doing too badly considering they got off to a rough start. Victoria had about $10,000 in a bank account from childhood, and that really helped them get a jump start. Claudia had the same but I wasted hers by decorating her house, lol.

I would definitely encourage you to give the aquarium a try! It's nowhere near as hard as it looks and once you get that done, it's just like decorating any other lot. :D

Lunar, it doesn't seem like very long ago that Finn and Victoria were teens, does it? I don't think their lives have gone quite the way they imagined they might all those years ago but they've done a pretty good job. Finn is super-cute as a dad. I love watching him with the kids!

I saw you commented on the next entry, so I guess you found the extra aquarium pics! ;)

So many "aww" moments these past few entries. Aww to Finn loving school and science just like his dad. How cute that he actually gets off the bus with such a big smile and cool of you to catch that. One of my sim kids is like that. He's into science and likes school a lot, too. I'll have to see if he looks as excited as Declan when he gets off the school bus.

That's cute that Caitlin made fast friends with uncle Jacob. And loved seeing her trying to play with Brenden. Double the cuteness.

I liked seeing more of your aquarium. I'd really love to make one but don't feel like dealing with the hassle just yet. I think I saved the tutorial you used for use in the future, though.

Laura, thanks! I've been in kind of a building mood ever since I made it, because I was so happy with how it turned out.

LOL, yeah, Victoria didn't have much choice, I guess! Claudia used her entire trust fund to decorate, as well as a loan. I forget how much I had her take out but it was absurd. But on the plus side, her house is really, really cute. ;) And the loan is all paid off now!